Gen4 G17
Ghost 4.5 Ranger connector + 6lb Wolff trigger-spring, Ameriglo Defoor Tactical sights
ALL the worn-in/polished trigger guts minus the trigger bar and ejector housing which are new to the Gen4 were imported from my well broken-in 3rd Gen G17 (this includes striker assembly and plunger safety and spring)
Cleaned and lubed with TW25 at the start, none since.
650rds, 1 stoppage (stovepipe) - Federal Champion 115gr FMJ (Wally-Mart, fairly soft shooting, about the same as WWB, UMC and Monarch are both softer)
20rds Speer Gold Dot 124gr +P JHP (my usual carry ammo, felt maybe a bit softer than usual and was accurate as hell)
The stovepipe occurred between rounds 600-650 on round 621 to be exact, the first round out of a supplied-with-gun factory Gen4 17rd mag loaded with 10rds. As I was shooting at 25yrds working on my grip and trigger control at the time, I was paying full attention and it was NOT limp-wrist induced.
The spent cartridge was caught flipped 180 degrees in the slide cut-out deep enough and solid enough in the cut-out to prevent the round below it from chambering fully, on extinct I performed a tap-rack-bang, that didn’t clear it so I stopped and took a closer look at it…
Dropped the mag, racked it, which cleared the empty case and chambered the round below it, then finished off the rest of the box of 50.
I think it was the combination of the new stiffer dual-spring recoil assembly combined with an underpowered round, so while it’s no big deal really, the jury’s still out…
Worth mentioning that I was surprised that in spite of the too-stiff recoil assembly, I did indeed see and feel that the gun shot flatter than my usual 3rd Gen G17 with 15lb ISMI recoil spring and experienced great sight-tracking, going in I thought this was BS, but have to say that now I’ve seen it with my own eyes… my guess is a lot of explanation goes to the WAY better grip, having owned and put many rounds through both the “normal” 3rd Gen’s and the RTF2 variant, I really dig the Gen4 RTF grip treatment, it’s a great compromise between the two others.
After the first 3 mags loaded with 10rnds shooting 6 5rnd groups at 10 yards to see if my sight install was ok, the remainder of the first 500 rounds through it were all shot running ToddG’s FAST drill and a mix of draw-to-1 shot, draw-to-2 shot, and 3rnd failure-to-stop drills against my iPhone shot timer…
I figured I would have experienced a malf during these first 500 if the new gun was truly unreliable as some have stated, but it did what it’s supposed to do and I find that the 2mm smaller grip, better texture and better mag release all just make my favorite pistol work better for me.
FWIW, I’ve shot nearly 30,000rds through various 3rd Gen G17’s (and haven’t gotten rid of my most recent one just yet) and have to admit the new model really does fit me better and seems easier to be fast and accurate with even after only a couple sessions with it, I feel ToddG’s FAST drill tells you a lot about how a gun is working for you, and I saw some pretty nice numbers and was beating my old best times with the Gen3 fairly consistently right off the bat (although, did have a couple of mags caught up in the grip hole, never knew that stupid grip plug mattered, I’ll need one when they’re available…).
The new dual-spring set-up seems unnecessary to me, and I won’t tolerate very much, so we’ll see… If I was going to shoot a match or take a class this weekend I’d use the stronger Winchester NATO-spec stuff and would feel just fine about it though.
